Torn
by NariNyxx
Summary: Lyra, and her older brother Caelum have been brought up by the Malfoy family. After being sent into Gryffindor away from Draco and Caelum and with their allegiance towards their houses and friends.. will they be able to survive through the impending war unscathed?
1. Prologue

Prologue

'BANG'

The luxurious darkened oak doors blasted open, thrown off their hinges and fell apart into splinters as if it were broken glass.

A male figure, tall and clothed in luxurious emerald green robes calmly walked into the study. His barefoot steps gliding across the room not making a sound. His red eyes stared unblinkingly towards the other end of the room, towards a young man, no later than his early twenties clutching onto a young girl who seemed barely of age. A grip was on her forearm so tight that it was quite clear to see that there had been a struggle, a fight of some sorts. The older man had a sickeningly psychotic grin on his face as he stared frighteningly in awe of the figure stopped in front of him.

"I'm impressed to see your loyalty towards myself, I had undoubtedly thought you would have perhaps had second thoughts. You've done well. And as you know, I always reward my most faithful death eaters".

"My lord". Replied the young man, bowing his head. "It has given me the greatest honour to receive your praise." The Lord lazily trailed his eyes over the young man and then turned his attentions to the girl which was reluctantly by his side.

"You've caused quite a headache amongst my Death Eaters, Lyra. More so than I could have predicted. So tell me. Where is Harry Potter?"

The young girl stiffened but turned her head, avoiding eye contact and not providing him with the answer to his question.

The Lord realised this and continued. "You are but a mere young thing which I have no qualms of using the killing curse on, however if you do not answer me. I will do much worse. I will not repeat myself, child".

A middle aged woman, who adorned a two toned hair, blonde at the sides and a deep, rich chestnut on the top. Made a barely noticeable whimpered. Though, if you were to have been watching her at the time, you would not have realised she had uttered a word.

"Quiet Narcissa." The Lord had said, not tearing his eyes off the young girl. A slow, venomous and predatory smile crept on his face, it was only a small smile that could have barely been noticed however, if one were to know Lord Voldemort it would only mean one thing.

"Crucio" The young man's grip on the girl fell and she crippled to the floor, screaming in excruciating pain and agony. The girl's screams were carried throughout the whole building. The young man was stood, watching the young girl juddering on the ground, flinching and shuddering whilst he smiled a smile so cold and distant that he could have very well have been the one that had placed the curse on her.

The woman, Narcissa, was still. She was watching with no movement to help or join in with the torture, however she watched on with what could be unmistakably perturbed eyes.

Voldemort paused his torture. Allowing the screaming to stop and for Lyra to collect herself, her panting and whimpering could be heard across the room as she shakily tried to shake off the ringing in her ears and swallow the bile that had raised in her throat. Hastily she wiped the tears away from her eyes and roughly dried the trails that had been left on her face with her hands.

"Have you changed your mind, or shall I continue?" Voldemort said calmly. "That may have felt like minutes, hours worth of pain however it was a mere few seconds and I will quite happily carry on for much longer if I must".

"Lyra please answer our Lord. End this stupidity. You are loyal to him as you are loyal to myself and the Malfoy name that has looked after you." The young girl named Lyra glanced over to Narcissa for the first time since Voldemort had entered the room before glancing over to the young man that had held her captive with his grip earlier before. She could see the cold, twisted grin on his face. He was relishing in this. The look of pure hatred on his face for her as well was made apparently clear. Lyra looked up to Voldemort. She knew, Voldemort was getting restless trying to find him. Harry was finding his horcruxes and destroying parts of his very soul. She was no fool though, for if she were to not say a word she would die, if she did, she would branded as a traitor by the Order.

She bowed her head in defeat. Pain etched on her face. Voldemort took her silence as her answer and raised his wand. Narcissa made another small whimper and just before the spell was released from his wand.. a frail voice came from the girl on her knees.

"I'll tell you".


	2. Chapter 1 Adoption

_Adoption_

A strangled cry echoed from the quiet halls in Malfoy manor past midnight, it's source was leading from the dining room. There were two figures in the room. The source of the cry came from a beautiful young woman in her mid twenties. Her normally beautifully long two toned hair flowed down her shoulder blades was dull, and tired. It was a younger Narcissa, and she had her face in her hands, shaking. The events of what had happened had left her sobbing uncontrollably. The man in the room next to her looked to be only a couple of years older, his blonde hair fell to his shoulders and he had the a pained look on his face. Unlike Narcissa who adorned some silky, rich evening garments on the man wore a dark cloak that seemed battered and tired, as though, he had just gone through the wars.

"I'm sorry, Narcissa." He placed a hand consoling hand on her back whilst she sat at the grand oak dining table. Another small cry came from her. "You and I both knew she was foolish for going with that Potter."

"She... didn't have to die for it Lucius. She was foolish yes, but at least he wasn't a muggle. I'm losing my family.." Narcissa chocked back another sob and Lucius very gently, almost unnoticeably rubbed her back.

"You're right that he wasn't a muggle. However of all people for your sister to elope with, it had to be with the family that the Dark Lord was trying to defeat." Narcissa snapped up and turned to Lucius sharply. Angry tears trailing down her face.

"She wasn't involved, Lucius! She made a promise to me that she wouldn't!" A sigh came from Lucius' lips.

"It's the price of war I'm afraid." They both went silent. The crackle from the fireplace could be heard in the room, the fire gave a glow into the room as it was the only source of light used in the room.

"What about the children?" Narcissa broke the silence. "Bella will be sentenced and I refuse to allow Andromeda to raise those children after the way she had turned out!"

"What other option is there?" He sighed. "They will have to live somewhere." Her hazel eyes went wide. She wiped the tears from her face and stood up, she turned to Lucius and her face portrayed that she looked somewhat joyous.

"They could live with us." He frowned.

"We already have a child. Draco is already a handful and you wish for us to take in a child the same age as him and one two years his senior? Have you forgotten that I still have my hearings to allow me a chance to stay out of Azkaban?" Narcissa nodded.

"We have the house elves to help us raise them. I was brought up with siblings, he will have a brother and a sister Lucius." Lucius frowned. Clearly not swaying on the idea.

"I will not acknowledge considering them as siblings. They have the Potter name by blood, they are not Malfoy and I refuse to give them that privilege." Narcissa waved it off.

"We'll keep their surnames then." Lucius signed, which Narcissa took as her answer to do what she will. She busied towards the door. "I'll start writing an owl to the administrative registration department to put in the request."

Lucius watched his wife rush out of the room. A small, barely distinguishable smile was found on his face. A part of him should have known this would have been the outcome and if this would help his wife get over the sentence of Bellatrix, the death of her sister Carina and the impending hearing on whether he would be sentenced or not then so be it. After all, now that Voldemort had fallen he had his own cause, to protect his family.

.x.

The hearing was a success on Lucius' part. Exclaiming that he had been under the imperious curse and that he had been acting unwillingly as a death eater for Voldemort. His and Narcissa's papers to be guardians to her sister's children had been used as evidence unbeknownst to them, in their favour as they were then considered to then be genuine survivors from the war that had been unwillingly turned into slaves under the curse.

It seems as though their luck had risen to good fortune. Narcissa and Lucius were granted full guardianship over the children and would soon be having the children arrive in their manor. As far as the ministry were concerned, the children would be brought up in a family home setting that would have no financial difficulty and would be raised in a high social standing. Narcissa had made the elves prepare for the children's arrival whilst Draco was riding his toy broomstick and was levitating around the living room under the careful eye of Lucius. It may have only been a few inches off the ground but if Draco were to fall off, Lucius knew he'd be in for wails of tears. For his young son was most certainly a crier.

A loud 'swoosh' sound came from the dining room next door, and a hurried pitter patter ran into the living room which Lucius occupied the room with Draco. A house elf apparated, bending slightly in a small bow whilst clutching onto the doorframe in a small cower. Whilst the minister of magic believed Lucius to be a free man, that didn't stop Lucius from being cruel to those beneath him.

"Sir, misses Millicent Bagnold is here. Mistress is speaking with her." Lucius nodded and stood up. The minister of magic was here and for her to personally arrive to the Malfoy manor would be of the highest importance.

"Dilly. Keep an eye on Draco, if he injuries himself you'll find the same fate yourself." The house elf bowed and his long pointed nose smacked across the floor painfully.

"Yes sir, Dilly will look after young master." Lucius, content with the answer took his long stride out of the room, joining the room adjacent to find Narcissa already with her arms clasped around a young girl that was fourteen months old. It was his niece, Lyra. She had light, golden brown hair that went below her chin and had hazel doe eyes. She had a faint pinkest tint to her cheeks where she must have been crying from before she had arrived however she seemed very content clutched into his wife's arms. The young boy in the room that was two years of age sported dark mahogany hair that was slightly ruffled and held a stoic look on his face, it was his nephew Caelum. He looked thinner than he had last seen him. The child may have been only two years old but it was clear to Lucius that the child understood his parents were not going to be coming back. The child held a cold look and there were visible dark hues under his eyes.

Caelum was standing a foot away from the guest witch that held herself in a manner of authority.

"It's nice to see you so soon again Lucius but on better terms." Lucius nodded and took a few steps forward. Taking her hand in his and shaking.

"Pleasure to see you again so soon, Millicent." Millicent smiled respectfully and released his hand. Her copper hair was pulled into a tight bun and she wore a rich blue cloak that cascaded to the floor.

"It's freshening to see you would be adopting these children and becoming their legal guardians. You've already spent some time with them before have you not? They are your sister in law's children correct?" Lucius nodded.

"Yes indeed they are, we'd normally have them visit on joyous occasions. It is horrible to think what damage war brings, especially the after effects of war to families. I am truly grateful that I still have my wife and son and that Lyra and Caelum are still safe. I must ask, do you know how they survived?" Millicent nodded.

"They were under a sleeping draught. More than likely their mother made. From what my dear friend Minerva exclaims, Carina was the one that was able to brew more successful potions compared to her husband Gareth." Lucius nodded. He never particularly liked Gareth, he was most certainly a Gryffindor for his absurd loyalty towards Carina and his younger brother James. However he had been rather humble and as much as he could help it, had avoided confrontation as much as possible. Why Carina had fallen in love with him he didn't know, however ultimately that had been her downfall.

"Caelum..." Narcissa beckoned the young boy over to her. Lucius could see by her expressions and body language that she was being overwhelmingly maternal. She had been at this stage since she had become pregnant with Draco. He preferred to think of it as new parent syndrome and hoped it would undoubtedly be a phase, otherwise he would need to put in more overtime once he was off of suspension from resuming work at the ministry.

Caelum walked over to Narcissa and allowed himself to be pulled into an embrace. Millicent watched on with a smile on her face before turning to Lucius.

"Now that your hearing is over, please await an owl from us in the next week or so. As you can imagine Lucius, we are still having the whole wizard and muggle community celebrating you-know-who's death and juggling with the upheaval it's causing with the muggle prime minister and trying to go through all the courts to sentence all the wizards that would be found guilty of being death eaters is a long process. You'll receive an owl with the date we'd expect you back in office. I have personally asked if you could have an extra week or so off beforehand to have time to adjust to having two more children in the household however we will be looking forward to you're return." She turned to Narcissa. "It was great seeing you again Narcissa, if you ever fancy a cup of tea some time send me an owl and we'll arrange a date." Narcissa and Lucius paid their goodbyes to Millicent and she left by apparition.

Narcissa continued to clutch onto both children in a joint embrace. Lucius walked over and rested a hand on her shoulder.

"They'll need some rest Narcissa. Let's allow them to briefly see Draco again and then let's allow them to have a nap. They look as though they're in dire need for one." Narcissa nodded and stood. Resting Lyra on her hip and taking Caelum's hand, she guided them into the living room which echoed childish laughter and whizzing noises where Draco continued to play on his toy broom.


	3. Chapter 2 Lyra

_Lyra_

"Lyra dear, _stop_ slouching." It had been over nine years since the tragic events that had happened in England. An older Narcissa was walking side by side with a young girl that had reached ten years of age and in only a few weeks was going to have her eleventh birthday.

"Sorry Aunt Cissy.." Lyra straightened and clutched onto her bag strap tighter which was thrown on her shoulder. She looked reasonably pretty for her young age. Her golden brown hair reached to her shoulders, which she had recently cut herself and almost losing half the length of her hair and that had broken Narcissa's heart. She wore a flowery red summer dress and wore flat shoes whilst they walked around the bustling crowds of Diagon Alley.

"I can't understand why Draco is simply just so _fussy_ , he must take that from his father. Making Madam Malkin take extra time to fuss over him and his measurements. It's disrupting our shopping! Caelum's probably sauntered off to see Warrington and Montague." She huffed. Narcissa seemed to particularly enjoy having Lyra around, as she always seeming wanted to keep Lyra from going very far without her and often ended up complaining about her brother and cousin. As her brother was two years her senior and was naturally very independent already, Narcissa showed lack of concern for his whereabouts. Narcissa continued. "We have your robes, and both yours and Draco's wands and textbooks for this year. Now, you're birthday is coming up. If it's within reason we will buy it for you now before we head back home."

Lyra pondered. There wasn't anything that she particularly needed. She was quite content with everything she had if she was completely honest. She had her brother Caelum, who if she had to describe, she would say as much as she loved her brother he was bipolar. One moment he would speak calmly and nicely directed towards her and the next minute he'd snap and walk away. Narcissa believed it was the after effect of having their parents die from the war that had caused him to be bitter and angry. He hated being called an orphan.

Lyra however, never gave a thought to the word orphan, she knew her parents had died because of the war but Aunt Cissy and Uncle Lucius had always been around for her and Draco had been her best friend growing up. It felt as though it was a normal family setting and she wouldn't believe it to have been any different were her parents still alive. Aunt Cissy always made sure she was looked after, made sure that she was well fed and god forbid the amount of designer dresses she had, she could dress everyone in Diagon Alley twice over. The only thing that had never bode well for Lyra was the Malfoy's distaste of anyone that wasn't of pure blood, the Malfoy family constantly looked down on anyone that wasn't of high pure blood along with her brother however she never felt the need to go along with it. She felt indifferent about it all, she wondered if she was considered odd for it and if it was because she felt she had no right to judge others when for all she knew her father could have been half blood. Narcissa and Lucius never particularly spoke about her father often so she knew very little but they always spoke about her mother in the highest regard - more from her Aunt Cissy's side though and Lucius agreeing with that she said.

They walked past a number of shops, including Flourish and Blotts (where they had collected their books), and Florean Fortescue until a shop caught Lyra's eye.

"May I have a pet for school, Aunt Cissy?" She looked up at Narcissa whilst she contemplated. Both Caelum and Draco were against wanting animals at Hogwarts and she had never given it a thought that perhaps Lyra would have wanted one.

"We already have Artemis which we've bought for all three of you to use." Narcissa was referring to the family Eagle Owl which was to be used specifically for us three in school. Caelum had refused Artemis when he had first started Hogwarts until Narcissa had demanded him to take the owl to school. He soon realised the owl came rather handy because he would be sent care packages full of treats throughout the year. Lyra shook her head.

"I have no problems with Artemis at all. I was thinking more along the lines of a different animal." She turned her eyes towards Magical Menagerie. Narcissa looked ahead and realisation dawned that she wasn't referring to owning her own owl.

"Well, I don't see any reason as to why I can object. So long as you don't choose a toad. They are such nasty creatures." Lyra smiled and walked into the store with Narcissa, eagerly looking at all the trinkets that surrounded the front of the store to catch people's eye. There were leashes for dogs that had a charm on so that witches and wizards could walk their dog without having to hold the leash themselves and have them by their side. There were fish tanks that were charmed to keep constant natural clean water for the fish and never needing any effort to be cleaned. She walked towards the end of the stop and spotted all the available pets.

She could see Kneazles sleeping high on the shelves of the shop to seemingly avoid the public from disturbing them, nifflers fighting with the owner of the store and trying to steal the money from the till and ravens crowing at customers that tried to touch them whilst they were on their perches by the entrance of the store. There were rats in their cages scurrying around and trying to nestle to go back to sleep after a child had decided to stop poking them. There were toads croaking in their makeshift pond container at the back corner, but she didn't give any of them her attention. In the corner of her eye, Lyra saw a singular kitten on its own with it's ears pressed against it's head as it huddled on it's own watching everyone that walked past. It had subconsciously tugged her heart strings as she walked away from Narcissa and walked over to the kitten that closely resembled the look of a leopard.

"There, there now.." She cooed as the kitten hissed and took a step back from her, pressing against the wall. "It's okay...there's no need to be scared." She reached out with her hand and gave the kitten a chance to smell her scent. Narcissa walked over.

"Is this the pet you want, dear?" Lyra nodded up at Narcissa, her doe eyes shining brightly. The kitten tenderly leaned forward and sniffed her fingers before rubbing it's cheek anxiously and purring.

"Please.." She gently placed a hand under the kitten and lifted it into her arms, untying it from it's leash. They waltzed up to the store owner behind the till. The witch behind the till looked to be in her late fifties and she had a kind look about her, she had a broad smile on her face when she saw the kitten in Lyra's arms.

"Thank goodness that little Bengal is finally getting a home. I had been selling all of that litter throughout the day but he seemed to be the last one and no one gave him any interest. My dear, he will be 12 Galleons." Narcissa frowned at the price.

"Your price list says 9 galleons for your cats. What makes this one so special?" There was venom in her tone.

"Ah well, he is a Bengal. They are a rare type of breed and they are one of the most lively and chatty cats you'd find. He'll grow to be slightly taller than the average cat too. He'll definitely be a perfect companion to have around Hogwarts." Narcissa frowned but saw the loving look Lyra gave to the kitten. She would definitely be hexed by her husband knowing she spend 12 galleons on a cat that would perhaps never shut up around the Malfoy manor. Begrudgingly she gave the 12 galleons over to the lady behind the counter.

The witch smiled and took the money, turning to Lyra. "What do you plan on calling him, sweetheart?" Lyra smiled and kissed the top of the Bengal's head.

"I think I'll call him Finn. It keeps the names similar for him and Artemis." Narcissa gave a curt smile and placed her hand on her back.

"Come on, Lyra. I'm sure Draco will be done in Madam Malkin's now." Lyra nodded and they both headed out of Magical Menagerie with Finn in her arms, nestled in and his amber eyes curiously watching the high population of people on the cobbled street.

As they walked past Florish and Blotts, Finn's tail whacked Lyra's arm and his ears pressed into his head. Concerned, Lyra looked ahead to what Finn was staring towards and she noticed a giant of a man walking towards him. He had dark bushy long hair and a beard so long and thick that it looked like the fur pelt he adorned. He was walking towards them with a boy around her age, the scrawny boy in question looked to wear clothes way too big for him and hair so messy it couldn't of been intentional.

Suddenly Finn leapt up from her arms and ran into the nearest shop to hide, it looked as though the kitten really needed to adjust to being around people. Lyra panicked and turned to Narcissa.

"Aunt Cissy! I'll meet up with you in a minute! Finn!" She turned on her heel and chased. Narcissa frowning and shaking her head slightly and went off to collect her son.

.x.

Running into the shop, Lyra had not registered what on earth it was. The overall size was larger than she had expected as there was numerous aisles full of different colours of bits and bobs. There was one aisle that looks to be a whole row full of fireworks all ranging from different sizes and colours. There was a large sign close to the entrance.

 _Nose biting teacups! Special offer at 3 sickles and 38 knuts a piece! One day only!_

Lyra paused slightly to register where she was. She must have been in that joke shop Gambol and Japes which her brother Caelum despised because it was some gryffindor's favourite shop. Mentally shaking her head out of her train of thought she hastily looked around for Finn, quickly she noticed his stripped body turn into the last aisle of the shop. Manoeuvring past a load of people around her age, she turned round the bend and stopped dead when she saw Finn be picked up by one of two identical boys. Instantly her mind flashed back towards something her brother had mentioned to her at the beginning of summer when they talked about her and Draco joining him in Hogwarts once september had hit.

" _Once you arrive at Hogwarts, no matter what.. don't allow yourself to get separated and stuck on your own with the ginger twins from Gryffindor. Those bloody Weasley twins will try and cause all sorts of living hell on you. With how flimsy you both are, you'll be just a walking target."_

She felt her hands become clammy, realising that these must be the twins her brother was referring to, let's face it.. how many wizarding identical ginger twins do you meet in your lifetime? She saw Finn look even more distressed in the hands of one of the boys and Lyra panicked for him.

"Please!" She shouted. Both boys heard her voice and turned towards her curiously, Finn in one of the boys hands distressed and squirming to get away. "Please don't hurt him!"

There was a pause and the both boys blinked and glanced over at each other before turning to her again. Confusion clear on their faces. The boy on the left spoke, whilst the boy on the right went to try and stroke Finn to calm him down.

"We'd never hurt anything. What makes you think we would?" The boy on the right nodded.

"This isn't a good place for him to run around, he could get the fur on his tail singed." He chuckled and caused Lyra to widen her eyes and reach out for Finn shakily to try and get him away. The boy on the left elbowed his brother and continued.

"What Fred meant was that, this shop could have a firework set loose and he could potentially get hurt. It's a joke shop, accidents can happen and so we picked him up to make sure things didn't." Fred could visibly see how shaken Lyra was and walked over to her, reaching out so he could hand her Finn.

"What made him so frightened?" She sighed in relief having Finn back in her arms and Finn had calmed the moment he had taken in her scent and rested his head on her breast bone whilst Lyra hugged him. She visibly calmed and released the oxygen she had sucked in.

"There was this giant of a person with black hair and a beard. Finn must have been scared of his size." Fred tilted his head in contemplation.

"That must 'ave been Hagrid! Don't you think, George?" The twin on the left named 'George' nodded.

"Must of been Fred! It's rare to see him around here! Usually he goes to Hogsmeade rather than come to Diagon Alley!" Lyra blinked.

"You know him?" Both the twins nodded.

"He's the groundskeeper of Hogwarts! You'll see him when we get off the train. Every year he asks for the first years to follow him." Exclaimed George.

"And then once you do the trial of wrestling the giant squid in the lake than you go to wrestle the troll in the dungeons." Fred grinned. Lyra's eyes widened and she squeaked at Fred.

"There's a troll in the dungeon?!" Both the twins laughed and shook their heads. Fred seemed to laugh the hardest.

"Of course we don't have a troll in the dungeon. What do you take Hogwarts for? It's not a dangerous school." Lyra awkwardly made a small laugh and the twins could see she she still seemed very wary of them. George walked over and offered her his hand.

"I'm George Weasley and this is my uglier twin brother Fred. It's nice to meet you...?" He paused, waiting for her to introduce herself. Slowly, after what felt a few seconds, Lyra took his hand in a shake.

"I'm Lyra, nice to meet you George, and Fred." Fred's eyes shone and he placed a hand on her shoulder, he had a big grin on his face.

"So are you looking forward to heading into Hogwarts Lyra? What house do you reckon you'll be in?" Lyra slightly tensed when Fred placed a hand on her shoulder but slowly eased into it. They may have been a tad too close to her for her comfort but she didn't feel any malice coming from either of the two. She smiled up at Fred.

"I'm trying to keep a fresh mind about it. My family would much prefer me to be in Slytherin as that would follow family tradition but I think all houses have their good points. I just want to placed where I can make some friends and have fun." The twins demeanour tensed slightly when she had said the house Slytherin. She continued, unaware. "Though, I pose the risk of my uncle abandoning me if I follow in my fathers footsteps and end up in Gryffindor like his side of the family." She chuckled to herself. Both the twins eased, realising she seemed to find the idea of it light hearted with her chuckle.

George grinned and turned to his brother, they both hand a mental agreement and they both went either side of her and put their arms around her shoulders.

"Well.. regardless what house you go in.." George started and Fred continued.

"You'll have us as friends."

"Just be warned of our brother Ron." George said wearily.

"He has a habit of trying to turn things yellow recently." Fred grinned and George finished.

"Mainly his rat." Lyra kept turning her head to listen to them both whilst they carried each other's sentences. She laughed, the twins seemed to be nice. She couldn't understand why her brother didn't like them, they were entertaining to say the least.

"Trying to turn his rat yellow?!" Both the twins nodded and laughed with her. Lyra heard her name being called outside the shop by a familiar voice. She stopped and pulled away from the twins, her eyes shining in excitement and joy.

"I've got to go, I can hear my cousin calling me. It was really nice to meet you both!" Both Fred and George smiled and nodded. George waved.

"We'll see you at Hogwarts!" Lyra smiled and waved back.

"You never know, we could be in the same house!"

Lyra walked out of the shop with the smile still on her face and Finn who had fallen asleep still nestled in her arms. An impatient Draco had a scowl on his face whilst Narcissa was checking all the school equipment they had was all bought off the list.

"What were you doing in _there_ , Ly? A house elf would have died of old age, you took that long." Lyra walked over and raised her arms gently so Draco could see Finn better.

"Finn got a bit scared so I stayed in the shop for a while longer to calm him down. He's all settled now." Draco huffed and turned to his mother.

"Can we head home now mother? I've had enough for today." Narcissa turned to them, losing her concentration over the shopping.

"Ah, yes I believe we have everything. If there's anything missed once you have left for school, let me know. I'll send it by owl." They both nodded. Narcissa smiled curtly and then beckoned them both to leave. As the three left, Lyra trailed behind them both and stopped. She turned and looked back in the direction of Gambol and Japes. Spotting the ginger twins running out and a short, middle aged ginger women that must have been their mother, was running over to them seemingly angry with the two of them. Lyra couldn't help but feel the excitement bubble in the pit of her stomach and give her butterflies, she really couldn't wait to go to Hogwarts.


	4. Chapter 3 Caelum

_Caelum_

As the three had arrived back into the Malfoy manor, Finn had woken up from his nap and jumped out of her arms. As he was now away from the crowds of Diagon Alley, the little kitten had decided to gather up his courage and have a look around himself. Malfoy manor was a rather huge so it gave Finn the chance to get used to being around somewhere that was significantly bigger than being in a shop.

Lyra bent down and gave Finn a little stroke. Draco rolled his eyes right beside her.

"If you _had_ to get an animal, why couldn't you have gotten something more interesting... like a snake to torment the other houses when we are finally settled into Slytherin or another house elf so we can be served at school." Lyra rolled her eyes and playfully whacked Draco on his forearm.

"I like cats! Snakes make me nervous. They're very unpredictable." Draco gave her a look before sniggering.

"You'll have to get used to them once we're in Hogwarts. You'll see snakes everywhere and you never know, our common room may be full of them too." Lyra frowned slightly and huffed at him.

"That would be a stupid notion, if you used that theory then Gryffindor would have Lions in their common room, Ravenclaw would have ravens and Hufflepuff would have badgers! It would be a small zoo rather than a school!" Draco gave her a look.

"I was going for figure of speech but It makes perfect sense if there were! Why else would they have those mascots for each house?!" Lyra put her hands on her hips.

"They would not have lions in a school!" Draco crossed his arms.

"Perhaps they do!"

"No they don't!"

"Then go and join Gryffindor! That house has people stupidly brave, like you!" Draco screamed. A hand went on both his and Lyra's head. Looking up, they both saw Narcissa's face look thunderous.

"Children, stop." They both calmed and Draco uncrossed his arms whilst Lyra lowered her hands from her hips. Narcissa continued. "Draco, even offhandedly suggesting that Lyra should join Gryffindor is unacceptable behaviour. You'll both be together in Slytherin with Caelum." Draco nodded whilst Lyra frowned slightly.

"Would it be wrong for me to join another house? Say, Ravenclaw?" Draco snorted.

"You wouldn't be smart enough-"

"Draco." Narcissa scolded him, she turned to Laura. "If you were to be accepted in another house, we would accept it. However with my blood in your veins, you're guaranteed to follow the black family footsteps and join Draco." Narcissa smiled and Lyra returned it with a weaker one, she believed Narcissa thought she was worried she wouldn't be accepted in the Slytherin house, which was the opposite to her worry.

"Thank you aunt Cissy." Narcissa smiled and then headed off to settle at home. Once she was out of earshot Draco turned to Lyra.

"I have a feeling you'd be the worst Slytherin in the world though." Lyra shrugged.

"I don't know." She smiled at him. "If I am in Slytherin though, I'll be a better one than you." He scoffed.

"I'd like to see you try. Crabbe and Goyle are going to Hogwarts this year as well so I've already got my friends sorted." Lyra's smile widened.

"And I have you, so I'll be fine." He paused slightly and then returned her smile.

"Yeah, you are." She wrapped her arms around him and gave him a hug.

"As long as I've got you, i'm okay." He returned her hug.

"Just don't end up in Hufflepuff.. otherwise I will disown you." She laughed and pulled out of his hug, whacking him lightly on the arm again. The hall was then filled with laughter.

.x.

It hit six in the evening and everyone minus Caelum was seated by the table. Lucius was seated at the head as per usual and silence was looming over. They always sat in silence as much as they could help it. It was dignified and sophisticated. As high, pure bred wizards, they were to keep an orderly fashion amongst themselves.. and it was the most boring parts of the day for Lyra. She thought back to the twins earlier that day and wondered if their family ate in silence at the dinner table as well or whether it was the complete opposite and if it was full of laughter and chatter. She smiled at the thought of the twins using a nose-biting teacup on the woman she had assumed was their mother. If she had tried anything like that on her aunt, she would have been sent to her room without any supper and would have a sneaky suspicion the house elves would have had their first day off in their lifetime the next day.

The front doors slammed which broke Lyra out of her thoughts. One of the house elves Dobby, apparated to the front of the house and Lyra could hear his squeaky voice ask him if he could take his coat. She heard a thud and knew it was her brother kicking the poor elf away from him. Lyra's eyes lowered to the food on her plate, she hated the way the house elves were treated. Caelum never got in trouble or was lectured for his behaviour towards them that it felt encouraged by their Aunt and Uncle. Thankfully Draco was the same as her and left them alone, however he was prone to badmouthing them.

Caelum walked into the dining room and sat across from her in his usual seat with Dobby in tow, slightly wincing as he moved. Grabbing his cutlery, he started to dive into his steak. Lucius raised a brow at him.

"You left Narcissa, Caelum." Referring to their Diagon Alley trip. Caelum lowered his knife and fork, swallowing his mouthful of steak and turned to Lucius.

"I had an owl from Flint. He's the new Quidditch captain of Slytherin and he wants me to prepare for the new season. I was with Warrington and Montague. We bought our stuff and went back to his to train." Draco smirked.

"No matter how much you train those twins will always bludger you. If it were me, I'd never get touched." Caelum scowled darkly at him.

"Those blood traitors will get what's coming to them this year." Lyra looked up at him with a frown on her face.

"Are they really as bad as you make them out to be?" Caelum gave her a look.

"They're purebloods that would happy associate themselves with muggles. It's a miracle that their blood is still pure." Lyra inwardly sighed. Everything seemed to be about blood status and reputation. she had, had enough hearing it.

"Well, once we're at Hogwarts Caelum, we'll help you out. Maybe throw in a couple of curses when we see those twins." Draco sniggered and went back to his new potatoes.

"You couldn't even place a charm on a teacup let alone a curse, Draco. I can look after myself." Declared Caelum. Soon, the conversation subsided and they resumed eating their meal in silence.

Once the dinner was over, the Malfoy family and Caelum headed out of the dining room and Lyra headed towards the kitchen, looking for a specific house elf. The house elf in question Dobby, was already tidying up the kitchen with Dilly and Dotty. They turned when they heard the footsteps and all three stopped what they were doing and ran over to her in lightening speed.

"Is there anything we can get misses?"

"Misses still hungry?"

"Dotty will cook something for misses potter!" Lyra smiled and shook her head.

"Actually I just wanted to ask if you were okay, Dobby? I'm sorry my brother hit you again.." Dobby squeaked and looked like he was about to cry.

"Dobby is good misses! Dobby shouldn't have upset master Caelum but Dobby did and Dobby deserved to be kicked!" Lyra shook her head and patted him on the head.

"You didn't deserve it, you never do." Dobby's eyes shone, his eyes filling with tears. No matter how many times she told him that along with all the other house elves, they always reacted as though it was the first they had ever heard it. She pulled him into a hug.

"I'm sorry, Dobby. Uncle Lucius and aunt Cissy would have a field day if I said anything. Hopefully when i'm an adult I'll be able to do something for you all." All the house elves then went into chaos. Dobby started to cry, in complete awe of her words. Dotty wrapped her arms around Lyra's body and sobbed, whilst Dilly went and brought her a dessert as thanks whilst wailing to himself.

.x.

Once she had managed to bid the house elves goodnight she headed upstairs to retire for the evening. Passing her brother's bedroom, she noticed his door open and glanced in to see Caelum polishing his brand new Nimbus 2000 which Lucius had recently bought him. She knocked on his door.

"Enter." He said without looking up.

"Hey, Caelum." He glanced at her before going back to polishing the top of the broom, specifically where the name of the brand of the broom was.

"What do you want, Ly?" Lyra bit her bottom lip before walking over to him.

"Cae, will everything be alright at school? I mean.. what if I don't go in Slytherin?" Caelum placed his cloth and broom down and turned to her.

"You're going to be in Slytherin, Ly. We've got the Black family blood in our veins. It only comes natural for us to be with the purest of our kind." Lyra squirmed slightly.

"But what if I don't? What if I end up in a different house? Would we still be the way we are now?" Caelum rolled his eyes and sat back, clearly uninterested and unconvinced.

"Trust me, you'll end up in Slytherin. There's no need to fret. However if you _do_ end up in a different house namely Ravenclaw, I'll be more impressed that I was wrong." Lyra gave him a weak smile and he continued. "Don't think about it too much though. The sorting hat will put you in the house that you belong to, not the house that you beg for it to put you in. That's why all the blood traitor Weasley's are altogether in Gryffindor." She ground slightly.

"Do you really hate the Weasley family that much? Why?" Caelum gave her a look.

"When you meet them, you'll know why. They are big supporters of Dumbledore and they worship the ground he walks on. He's a fool as well. They're the lowest of the low, and the Weasleys can barely even afford to get by in life." He laughed. "They reproduce everywhere like a bunch of rabbits and can barely put food on the table because it goes straight in their mothers large mouth. It would explain her weight." Lyra sighed and waited for him to calm from his laughter. He continued. "I'm sure she can't wait for them to head off to school every year, it means she gets more food to herself! But enough about that.." Caelum looked at her seriously. "We'll be at Hogwarts soon, so just enjoy the last few weeks we have left before we leave, you won't have the house elves catering you once we are on that train." Lyra shrugged.

"I wouldn't be that bothered. Draco will take it hard though." Caelum nodded.

"It'll break Draco's heart. He'll survive though, you both will." Lyra gave him a smile and then bid him goodnight. He gave her an offhanded wave when she shut the door behind her.

Lyra sighed once she was out of earshot and headed to her room. She thought about the twins back in Gambol and Japes. She quite liked them from her first impressions, much to her brother's disgust if he ever were to find out. They seemed easy-going and carefree, that they didn't care what people thought of them. Lyra smiled at the thought. She didn't mind that at all, in fact she thought it was admirable, and if all Gryffindors were like that.. well.. then she didn't think she'd mind them at all.


	5. Chapter 4 The Hogwarts Express

_The Hogwarts Express_

"Come on, Lyra!" Draco bellowed behind him. It was time for the three children to board the Hogwarts express. Lyra looked over at Draco to see that he was already pushing his trolley over to the train operator to drop off his luggage.

"I'll be there in a minute!" She replied. Lyra turned and faced both Lucius and Narcissa. It would be the last time she'd see them until christmas and she didn't know how she felt about it. As much as she didn't like their way of treating others, she did truly care about them and really looked up to them for bringing both her and Caelum up. She could tell Narcissa was stressed, even if she didn't show it on her face.

"I'll write.." Lyra started. She didn't particularly know what else she could say to them. "I'll keep an eye on Draco too, I'll try and make sure he doesn't get into trouble." Narcissa put her hand on her shoulder in response. It was as close to affection she would get from her. The Malfoy family wasn't particularly known for coddling.

"'I'm looking forward to you adorning those green robes, it's always been your colour." Lyra gave her a weak smile, she could feel a sting in her eyes and she blinked them away. She wouldn't cry, especially not in front of her aunt and uncle. "Now go! Go drop your bags off and head onto the train. Draco's waiting for you." Narcissa made a shooing motion with her hand. Lyra smiled and nodded. She turned to Lucius.

"Bye Uncle Lucius. See you at Christmas!" Lucius gave her a bored look and motioned for her to go as well. Lyra's smile widened and she turned her heel and left.

Draco had already gone into the train and Lyra walked over to the train conductor to hand her bags over. She picked up a sleeping Finn from the top of the trunk and cradled him in her arms, waking him up from his nap. Giving him a quick kiss on the top of his head, she headed to one of the nearby doors. The train whistled, indicating it had minutes before leaving and her door was the first to magically close behind her. Turning around, she gave a wave to both Narcissa and Malfoy; noticing that they had already headed towards the exit of the platform. Narcissa probably wanted to wallow to herself like she usually done when she was distressed.

She stood by the window and watched as the train pulled away from the station, at first it was crawling away from the platform and then gradually picked up it's speed. The train soon went to a bend and then.. it was all gone. She could no longer see the station, and she was finally on her way to her new home for the next seven years. Lyra closed both her eyes and took in a deep breath. It wasn't long until she found out what house she'd be in. She slowly opened her eyes and released the breath she had held in her lungs. There was no use fretting over it. Pulling herself away from the door, she started making her way through the train. Already, the carriages were full to the brim full of students of various ages that had already found their social groups and were either introducing themselves or catching up from over the holidays. It was only until she walked into the third carriage, she heard two gasps and two familiar voices both cry out in unison.

"Lyra!" She blinked and looked up to see the twins, Fred and George. She smiled and gave them a wave whilst holding Finn with her other arm.

"Hi guys." They beckoned her over to a nearby carriage of theirs.

"We managed to get one all to ourselves! Come! We'll introduce you to some friends of ours!" George cried out. Lyra kept the smile on her face and walked over. George had already walked in whilst Fred waited for her to arrive and allowed her to walk in first. When she walked past him he rested the hand on the small of her back to make her walk in a tad farther.

Lyra froze slightly when she took in the other people in the carriage. A boy with dreads was the closest on her left and he held an intrigued look whilst George sat between two girls. The girl on George's left had long dark hair that was braided behind her back and had dark brown eyes. It seemed as though she made a joke to Fred and the girl closest to Lyra because both of them had started laughing along with her. The other girl on George's right, had long blonde hair that was put up in a half up, half down style. Fred coughed and placed his arm around Lyra, the carriage had gone quiet and looked up at them both. She could feel her face grow slightly warm.

"Hey everyone, this is Lyra. It's going to be her first year so let's make her feel welcome!" He indicated over to the boy in dreads. "Lyra, this is Lee Jordan. You'll hear him in the Quidditch matches, he's the commentator." He grinned and so did the boy. "Just you wait, the moment the Slytherins come out he starts going in on one and gets lectured by McGonagall-" Lee scoffed.

"She doesn't lecture me, she just merely advises me to shut up when I mention their foul play." Fred laughed.

"Which is every single game they play." Lee nodded.

"Filthy cheating scumbags. This year we have to win the Quidditch cup, I can't bare it if I have to announce them as the winners again this year!" Fred and George both nodded in unison. The girl on George's left with the braid spoke up.

"Nice to meet you Lyra, I'm Angelina Johnson!" Lyra smiled and gave her a timid wave. "And next to George is Katie Bell. We're all from Gryffindor! What house do you reckon you'll be in?" Katie greeted Lyra with a smile and gave her a wave.

"I don't know." Lyra said in all honesty. "I've been wondering about it for weeks now. I know my brother expects me to be in the same house as him along with my aunt and uncle but I don't know if Slytherin is the right house for me." The atmosphere in the carriage suddenly grew thick. Fred placed his hand on the top of her head.

"You said your father was Gryffindor though, right?" Lyra nodded, the atmosphere altered slightly and both Angelina and Katie gave George a questionable look. Lee gave her a smile.

"Well, you're already smiling too much to be Slytherin. They have permanent scowls on their faces." He laughed, trying to break the ice. Lyra laughed back.

"They actually do! I haven't seen my brother genuinely laugh in forever!" Fred took it that Lyra felt more comfortable in the carriage and gently pushed her in the seat next to Lee which she eagerly sat in. Finn nestled in her lap and stayed awake to watch everything curiously. Fred took the seat by the window next to Lyra and put an arm around her.

"So who's your brother? What year is he in?" Lyra gave him a small grimace.

"You definitely know him. He's a Slytherin chaser. His name is Caelum Potter." Everyone's eyes rested on Lyra.

"You're kidding! You're not seriously related to that git are you?!" Cried George in shock. Lyra nodded.

"Is he really that bad?" Katie gave an exasperated look.

"He's as Slytherin as they come. He's a pure blood fanatic and wouldn't hesitate to hex one of us if we were alone in the corridor. He's a bit of a bully if i'm honest." Fred scowled.

"He's hexed the girls a couple of times because he's been bitter that they stole the quaffle from him. Even though his team would have won, he hates thinking someone has one upped on him." Lyra looked over apologetic to both Angelina and Katie.

"I'm sorry. It doesn't surprise me if i'm honest. He quite often would hit me when we were kids if he didn't have his way. It was only until our cousin would rat him out that he'd apologise."

"It's fine." Angelina started. "Don't apologise on his behalf. You wasn't the one casting the hex." She gave Lyra a smile. "It's the start of a new school year everyone! Let's start afresh and not hold any grudges!" Everyone in the compartment cheered in agreement.

.x.

The group had spent the next few hours together, Lyra ended up turning her back to Lee whilst she played exploding snap with Fred. Lee was chatting to Katie, whilst George was with Angelina. Both Lyra and Fred laughed amongst themselves when he won for the fifth time in a row.

"Wow, you're really terrible at this." She shrugged.

"My cousin has never liked playing exploding snap. He'd rather play chess. He prefers telling others what to do than rather doing it himself." She laughed and Fred followed suit. George tilted head slightly at them both and coughed, getting their attention. He decided to bite the bullet, Lyra could tell he had been wanting to say something for a while.

"I have to ask.. are you and your brother related to _the_ Harry Potter?" She turned and blinked at George. In a way, she _should_ have been expecting this. After all, when you have a surname of a famous wizard of our time and at the same age it would start to raise a couple of questions. She had been asked the question numerous of times throughout her life as well as Caelum, she knew how much he despised it.

"No. Well.. I don't think I am. I don't know. My aunt and uncle never really talk about my father but they didn't want to change our surnames. I've never met him either and if we were related i'm sure it would only be distantly. Otherwise I would have thought we'd of at least met him or been in contact.. if I remember right though.. he was raised by muggles?" George nodded and Angelina perked up.

"Sorry George asked really abruptly.. we had wondered since she met your brother in our first year but since we are never on good terms we never asked." Lyra gave her a small.

"It's not a big deal. I'm glad you didn't ask him though. Caelum's very sensitive about it and he really hates his last name for it. I don't see why though, it's never bothered me." Both Fred and George gave a thoughtful look.

"You know.. we've met him." George said in slight awe.

"Saw his scar and everything." Continued Fred. "Though you both don't look anything alike. For one he has scruffy hair and wears glasses."

"And he's taller." George cheekily said, only to have a card thrown at his face in a response. Both Angelina and Katie laughed.

"Well, i'm sure i'll meet him at some point this year. I wonder what house he will be in." Katie shrugged.

"Gryffindor no doubt. You know the old rivalry between Gryffindor and Slytherin, and _you-know-who_ was Slytherin. My bet is on that!" Angelina gave her a frown.

"He was only a baby when he defeated him though, no baby could do good magic at that age. I'm betting Slytherin. Fought dark magic with dark magic." Katie looked thoughtful.

"Maybe.. but a baby producing dark magic? I dunno… it just doesn't seem to sit right-"

Suddenly, the door was thrown open and a scowling Caelum was glaring down at the six in the compartment. Lyra subconsciously sunk in her seat.

"Hi Cae.." His face darkened, he looked like he wanted to hurt her and everyone else. Fred protectively put an arm around her.

"What do you want, _Potter_." He said pointedly. The tension in the room was so thick, someone put have cut it with a blunt knife. Caelum ignored him and had his eyes on Lyra.

"Up. _Now_." Lyra hesitated slightly but then gave Fred an apologetic look and shrugged his arm off her. She slowly stood and patted down her dress that she wore to her knees.

"I'm sorry guys, i'll catch you all up later." George scoffed, knowing full well she wouldn't if Caelum had anything to say about it. Lyra took a few steps towards her brother and he grabbed her wrist roughly and yanked her towards him causing her to wince slightly. Both twins shot up from their seat in rage.

"Let her go, Potter!" Yelled Fred. Caelum scoffed and pulled her out of the compartment and let go. Lyra stumbled but managed to collect herself so she didn't fall. She hadn't expected her brother to be this angry, she hadn't seen him this furious in a very long time.

"Come at me then _Weasley_. You can't hide behind your wands, bats and bludgers _yet_!" Fred launched towards him and George quickly grabbed his twin and held him back. Caelum had a smug look on his face.

"Such a muggle reaction, you blood traitors are so alike! Just you wait until we are back at school. I will hex you above and beyond so that you won't know your left to your rights." He threatened. Lyra frowned and grabbed his arm.

"Cae, lets go. Stop arguing _please_." Caelum gave her a venomous look.

" _Shut_ it Lyra. Otherwise I'll consider _you_ a blood traitor as well." She frowned but went quiet. There was a deathly silence pause that surrounded them. With a huff, Fred shrugged George off of him and gave Caelum a look that could kill which Caelum reciprocated. He gave them a smug looked before turning to his sister.

"Come on Lyra. I'll take you to some people worth your time." He grabbed hold of her hand and headed to the next carriage. Lyra, silently nodded in compliance and allowed herself to be dragged, refusing to look back at the pained expressions on everyone's faces as they watched the them leave.

.x.

Lyra frowned as she was beckoned to sit next to Montague. Caelum had dragged her to his compartment that entailed the terrible trio. Warrington was already sitting opposite her and he had a smug look on his face, knowing she had been in trouble. Once she had sat down, Caelum went to sit opposite Warrington by the window.

"Where was she, Caelum?" Asked a smug Warrington. He was given a frown in response.

"Weasley twins." Montague howled.

"You know how to pick 'em Ly!" He 'slapped' Lyra on the back, which had hit a lot harder than necessary and it caused her to wince. Her brother didn't bat an eye to it. She had felt her eyes sting slightly, not only had her brother hurt her wrist, but he had just witnessed one of his best friends hit her and not say a word. She didn't respond and diverted her eyes, not wanting to give them the satisfaction of getting an inkling to how upset she was.

"No matter. I won't have to worry about her with them once she gets sorted into Slytherin where she belongs." They started to talk as though she wasn't there.

"You never know though, she'll still cause you drama when she's in Slytherin because she'll probably end up being a sympathiser to all the mudbloods in the world knowing your luck." Warrington retorted and she flinched. Mudblood was such an awful word. Caelum elbowed Warrington in the ribs and laughed.

"Don't even joke about something like that!" Lyra could feel her eyes burn, her throat felt clenched and both her wrist and her back throbbed. She stood. Causing all three boys to stop laughing. Caelum scowled at her.

"Where are you going? Sit down." She shook her head, keeping her eyes to the floor.

"I'm going to find Draco." He scoffed and leant back, crossing his arms.

"Want to run to our cousin and cry to him? He's going to think the same as us when you tell him you ran off and spent time with some Weasleys. What will our uncle say, hm? I can't wait to tell him you've decided you're new social click are with blood traitors and mudbloods. You'll be sent straight home." Without warning, Lyra used the small heel underneath her shoe and used all the body strength she could muster and stomped on one of his feet, causing Caelum to yell out in surprise and pain, both Warrington and Montague were stunned with the sudden action and she used that quickly run out of the compartment. She slammed the door and ran ahead to the next carriage. She could hear shouts and curses directed towards her but she refused to look back until she knew she had two carriages between them.

Glancing back to see if any of the three had followed her, Lyra had ended up not noticing that one of the compartment doors had opened.

 _Smack_

Both bodies collapsed onto the floor.

"Oh my! Are you okay?! I'm so sorry!" Lyra winced and looked over to see a bushy brown, curly haired girl already dressed in her Hogwarts robes and seemed to have a slightly larger teeth than the average person, however that didn't deter her from looking reasonably pretty. The girl's eyes widened, she must have seen the stray tears that had fallen from Lyra's face because she shot up and went over to her in the blink of an eye to grab hold of Lyra's arm and lift her from the ground. "I didn't expect someone to be walking past." Lyra shook her head and pulled away from the girl, standing by herself.

"No need to say sorry. I should have looked where I was going. I'm the one who's sorry… i'm Lyra. Who are you?" The girl seemed to slightly calm and gave her a small smile.

"I'm Hermione Granger. I've just been helping a boy called Neville find his toad. You haven't seen one by any chance?" Lyra shook her head.

"That's nice of you to help." Hermione's eyes shone with delight for being complimented for being nice.

"Well it's what anyone would do! Why don't you join me? I only have two more compartments to ask in this carriage." Lyra nodded and wiped the tears from her face, giving her a smile.

"Why not." Hermione's smile widened and pointed to one of the doors.

"You go do that one if that's okay and i'll be in the one next to it. You never know, the Toad couldn't have gone too far." Lyra nodded.

"Right! See you in a minute!" She headed over to the door and noticed Hermione had bounded her way to hers and unapologetically thrusted the door open. Lyra noticed in hers was Draco, and his two childhood friends Crabbe and Goyle. She didn't bother knocking but opened up the door.

"There you are." Draco said casually. "I've been wondering where you've been. We'll be at Hogwarts soon." Lyra gave him a small smile.

"I'm helping someone find a toad. You haven't noticed one croaking around here have you?" She asked.

"Only the one that came by with the trolley." Referring to the trolley lady. She rolled her eyes.

"An actual toad Draco." He shook his head.

"Then no. I haven't. Are you going to stay here now or are you going to carry on asking around?" She shrugged.

"I have nothing else to do and it gives me a chance to stretch my legs." He gave her a look, which then slowly turned into a frown.

"Have you been crying?" She ignored his question and waved him off.

"I'll see you once we're off the train! Shouldn't be long now like you said. See you in a bit." She quickly turned and shut the door behind her. She didn't want to bring up her brother, especially with his two friends there listening. They'd have probably mentioned it to their fathers who would then in turn tell Lucius. She didn't want to cause a stir when she hadn't even arrived at the school yet.

Lyra looked around for Hermione, only to notice she was still in the compartment and she walked over behind her. Hermione sensed her and turned to acknowledge her arrival.

"Ah Lyra! Just in time! This is _Harry Potter!_ " She announced excitedly. Lyra blinked, it was the boy from Diagon Alley who was with that giant, the twins had called Hagrid! Harry gave her a small awkward wave, slightly on the edge from her gawking. "And this is Ron. _Ron_ , over here was just about to do some magic! So come on, let's see it then!" Ron looked nervous. He already had, had his wand in his hand and his pet rat on his lap. Lyra could see his confidence had completely dropped because of Hermione's challenge. Swallowing a lump in his throat, he swung his wand.

"Sunshine daises, butter mellow. Turn this stupid fat rat yellow." Nothing happened.

"Are you sure that's a real spell? It's not very good, is it? I've-" Lyra cut Hermione up.

"Ooh! So _you're_ their brother!" Ron looked startled by Lyra's loud voice, and so had Hermione and Harry.

"H-huh?" Was all that Ron could muster.

"Fred and George's brother! The one that has been obsessed with the colour yellow! It makes sense! They did say back in Diagon Alley that you planned on changing it's colour!" Ron's ears went pink, he turned to Harry.

"This is why I said having a load of brothers can suck. People know of you before you've met them." Harry gave him a weak smile.

The rest of the train ride had consisted of Hermione telling both Harry and Ron how many books she had read. If Lyra had to be honest, it had made her sound a tad of a know-it-all but she could tell there was no malice in the girl's voice. She was the first muggle-born she had met and it was refreshing to hear someone have a complete new outlook to magic and how exciting it could be. It made her excited to finally start to learn magic herself.

Once the train was moments from arriving, both her and Hermione had left the boys so they could all get changed. Not soon after, she felt the train pull to a complete stop and soon, everyone started filing out and the lane was filed with hundreds of students.

It then clicked and her heart sunk. Where was her Bengal?

"Finn?!!" She yelled. Lyra had been so focused on trying to help this boy who she had never met find his toad that she hadn't seen her pet since before Caelum had found her. She yelled again, expecting to hear a cry over the bustle of students but to no prevail. In a panic, she tried to run back to the end of the train where Fred and George's compartment had been to retrace her steps but she had absolutely no chance of being able to. Feeling her hands clam up with sweat, she started to panic and hyperventilate. She couldn't leave him, but what could she do?! Would someone find him? What if he was stuck somewhere and couldn't get away?! What if he got under someone's foot and got hurt?! She heard a loud gruff voice from out of the train.

"Firs' Years over 'ere!" Having no choice but to follow the flow of people, she felt her tears of frustration and worry fall down her face. There wasn't anything she could do. She'd lost her little friend before she had even got to school. She had taken a few steps off of the train, and headed towards the giant Hagrid. He was still bellowing for first years and was swinging his lantern so violently that Lyra was concerned that the candle inside would fly out. Walking over to him, Hagrid kindly beckoned her over to one of the last boats available. Thanking him weakly, she headed to the dock.

"Lyra!" A familiar voice yelled. She blinked and turned towards the crowd going the opposite direction. She saw a hand flailing up high and a tuft of ginger hair.

"Fred?" She asked with her voice raised. A couple of seconds later, the twin had broken through the ground and cradled within his other arm was "Finn!" She said with immense relief. "You have Finn!" Fred gave her a huge grin and gave her a wave. Relief washed over her. Finn was safe all thanks to Fred. He must have looked after her that whole time. She felt her face break out in the biggest smile as she watched him turn and go back into the crowd. Words couldn't begin to describe how reassured she was and she allowed herself to climb into the boat with no fear.

She had already made a few friends, Finn was safe, and she was finally at Hogwarts.


	6. Chapter 5 Hogwarts

_Hogwarts_

The journey on the boats was _fantastic_. Lyra's eyes widened like saucers as she sat at the end of the boat, next to Theodore Nott (whom she knew from gatherings that happened in the Malfoy Manor). Theo looked a shade of green with nerves, Lyra assumed he was panicking about what house he'd be in as his father had been known to be devoted to the Dark Lord back in the day. She put a hand on his back in comfort. Theo giving her a weak smile in return. In front of them were two identical twins that were gawking at their surroundings. They had briefly introduced themselves before the boats had magically started drifting towards the school as Padma and Parvati Patil.

It wasn't long before the boats had docked and all the first years had headed up towards the school and reached the doors to the great hall. A stern, elderly woman was standing there and awaiting their arrival. Hagrid had walked over to her and cheerfully told her that everyone had arrived. The witch nodded and as Hagrid turned and left, she spoke.

"Welcome to Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry. My name is Professor McGonagall. Soon, I will be opening these doors to the great hall and the sorting will take place…"

"Oh _Trevor_!" A young boy yelled causing the hall to break into silence, the boy had interrupted the stern looking Witch named McGonagall and ran over in front of the crowd. He swooped down and picked up a toad. Lyra assumed that must have been Neville whom Hermione had mentioned before. Lyra noticed Hermione along the other side of the group of students and her eyes were beaming, she was relieved Trevor has been found. Neville gave Professor McGonagall a small apologetic 'sorry' with Trevor in his hands and shuffled back to where he was standing, the toad croaking away.

"Now. I want you all to enter the great hall in a calm manner. The sorting till take place _now_." McGonagall turned on her heel and then opened the large oak doors, and the noise that was coming out from the hall had turned deathly silent. The whole school's attention was on them.

As all the first years started walking towards the front, Lyra shuffled and manoeuvred around the students, going past the Patil twins and Neville. She walked next to Hermione and the girl gave her a grateful smile.

Lyra looked around the hall and saw all the four houses emblems on the tapestries hanging from the ceiling above their retrospective tables. Lyra noticed her brother Caelum sitting next two two empty seats on his left hand side which she presumed were for herself and Draco. Caelum was with his typical best friends and they were entertaining themselves by mocking the first years coming in, she could tell by his facial reactions and and his sniggers as he was looking across the whole group. With a sigh, Lyra looked around. She noticed she didn't recognise anyone on the Hufflepuff table and neither the Ravenclaw. Her heart had sunk. She had decided that she really didn't want to be with her brother.

Looking over at the Gryffindor table, she recognised a few familiar faces. Both Angelina and Katie noticed she looked their wave and both gave Lyra large grins and a wave. Lyra gave them a smile and a small wave back. Angelina pointed the Lyra and then pointed down at the table, Katie following suit. They were both indicating for her to join them. Lyra couldn't help but feel a smile widen and she shrugged at them implying she didn't know what house she was going to be in yet and Angelina gave her an exasperated look. Lyra laughed at her.

"What are you laughing at?" Hermione said in a hushed whisper, looking over in curiosity. Lyra turned to her.

"One of the girl's I met on the train is telling me to join her house." Hermione answered with an 'ah' sound. "What house do you want to be in Hermione?" She gave Lyra a thoughtful look.

"I think Gryffindor. It sounds by far the best. The headmaster, Dumbledore, he was in Gryffindor. Ravenclaw wouldn't be too bad though I guess.." Lyra but her lip in contemplation. It really looked to be that every friend she'd managed to procure all seemed to be in Gryffindor. As they reached the end of the hall the hat on the stool had burst into song. The song had caught all the first years attention and vast majority of the halls excluding the older years. Lyra felt compelled to look back over at the house that undoubtably Hermione would go to. She spotted the twins and they already had, had their eyes on her. In Fred's arms was Finn and George was using his left hand to scratch behind the kitten's ear. They both waved merrily at her. She waved back.

"Now, when I call your name. You will sit on the stool and the sorting hat will call your house. Your house will be like your family. If you do well, you will be awarded points that will go towards the end of year house cup. Any rule breaking and you will lose points." McGonagall opened up her parchment. The room was still silent. "Abbott, Hannah" A blonde girl with pigtails squeaked nervously. As she walked past Lyra and sat on the stool. Almost instantaneously the hat bellowed out ' _Hufflepuff_!'.

There looked to be around forty first year students and once the sorting had started taking place, it didn't take very long for the numbers to decrease and the tables at the end to fill.

"Granger, Hermione" Hermione's eyes widened and she ducked slightly. Lyra grabbed her hand slightly and squeezed for reassurance.

"Go! You'll be okay." Hermione turned to her and gave a thankful look. Pulling away from Lyra's hand, she slowly walked up to the stool and sat down. McGonagall placed the hat onto her head and the room was quiet. The minutes ticked away. Lyra had her eyes focused on Hermione with her fingers crossed, hoping that her friend either got the house she wanted or Ravenclaw. Any house other than Slytherin, for she knew a muggleborn like her would be eaten alive. There was suddenly a small fidget from the hat, and it bellowed ' _Gryffindor_!' Lyra released the breath that she didn't realise she was holding and saw Hermione's eyes filled with joy as she skipped to the Gryffindor's table who were waiting to great her. She noticed Hermione glance over to her to give her a small smile. It wasn't long until the alphabet got to the letter 'M'.

"Malfoy, Draco." Lyra saw her cousin smirk as headed up to the stool. Both Crabbe and Goyle had been sent to Slytherin and everyone who had met the Malfoy family knew without a shadow of a doubt what house he'd be in. Before the hat had even brushed his hair, the hat screamed the loudest it had throughout the sorting so far. ' _SLYTHERIN_ '.

The Slytherin table erupted in cheers, Caelum was clapping hard and once Draco was able to stand from the stool, he gave Lyra a smirk and headed over to the table. Draco sat next to her brother and she could see Caelum putting a hand on his shoulder and muttering something which caused Draco's eyes to light up in delight. Lyra assumed it was a congratulations.

"Potter, Harry." The entire hall went into complete silence. Harry looked like he was about to be sick as he walked up to the stool and was next to have the hat on his head. Like Hermione, the hat took longer than usual to decide what house he would be in. Lyra could see that every single persons eyes were fixed on 'The boy who lived' as he awkwardly squirmed on the stool. After a few more minutes, the hat bellowed. ' _Gryffindor_!'. The whole Gryffindor table screamed. As Lyra looked over, every single student was standing and cheering. She could see the older years howling with their fists in the air, and she could see the twins chanting "we got Potter" as they both clapped in unison. Lyra could see the nerves and how awkward Harry felt when he walked down to the table and had numerous students run over and clap their hands on Harry's back or shake his hand. She could see the disappointment on the Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw tables whilst they watched on, envious that they had managed to procure the celebrity of the school.

"Potter, Lyra." It was finally her turn. Lyra swallowed some saliva she hadn't realised that had built up in her mouth. Anxiously whilst avoiding eye contact with anyone, she walked up to the stool and turned to face all the students in the great hall. She saw her brother and Draco staring at her, anticipating the call for Slytherin. Both the twins, Hermione and Harry were watching with bated breath. It looked as though George had taken his turn to hold Finn in his arms and Lyra felt Finn's eyes on her also. Feeling her hands clam up with sweat, she clenched the seat with both her hands and shut both her eyes so tight that she scrunched up her face as if expecting a punch in the face.

 _'Very interesting. You developed your mothers self preservation. You've given your choice upon houses a lot of thought…'_ A voice had whispered in her ear. Lyra forced down a gasp and kept quiet. The voice carried on. _'Perhaps not the most courage I would have expected however you do have a desire…a thirst, to impress your loved ones.' Lyra could feel her heart start to sink._

'I don't want to be what my brother expects me to be. I want to be my own person.' The voice chuckled.

 _'Oh how_ daring _! There's no question about that. You have a lot of your father in you.'_ Lyra had never been told that before and she felt slightly proud of it for some unbeknownst reason. _'I know the perfect place for you. It's…'_

' _Gryffindor_!' In a split second the hat was pulled up and off of her head and the brightness of the room made her dazed for a moment. It all took a moment for her to register and she couldn't believe it.

She was in Gryffindor. The house which her family despised. Looking over at the Slytherin table in a panic, she saw for the first time her brother looking at her completely stunned. His mouth was slightly ajar as he openly gawked at her. Next to him, Draco had a similar face, however his mouth had been open wider and he looked crushed. He had believed they would have been together throughout their whole time in school, and so did a small part of her.

Back at the Gryffindor table, Lyra saw that Fred and George were both standing and cheering, Hermione in tow. Katie, Angelina and Lee were clapping so hard that Lyra thought their hands would have been numb by the time she had stood and walked over to the table.

"Up yours Potter!" Bellowed Fred who looked in the direction towards the Slytherin table. Harry looked up in confusion, unsure of who Fred had meant and then realised it wasn't directed to him. Lyra looked over to the Slytherin table again and it looked as though Caelum had broke out of his shock, giving him a rude gesture and was gave filthy looks towards Fred.

George beamed as he walked over and placed Finn in her arms.

"Welcome to Gryffindor." Lyra gave him a smile, matching his.

"Thank you." Hermione gave her a hug.

"I just had this feeling we'd be in the same house! I'm so glad!" Lyra returned the hug.

"Your stuck with me now Hermione." They both exchanged grins and sat down next to each other whilst they watched the rest of the sorting. Lyra noticed Ron was second to last and he looked as though he was about to puke slugs. His face was green and he looked as though he was about to faint. She leant over to the twins.

"What do you guys think? Do you think Ron will be joining us?" Both of them nodded with no hesitation.

"All of us in the family have been placed in Gryffindor." George pointed out. Fred nodded.

"If ickle Ronnie-kins doesn't end up in this house, then it's alright. It'll definitely mean he'll stick out like a sore thumb in the family though." George nodded with agreement.

"He's definitely no smart arse though so Ravenclaw is out of the equation."

' _Gryffindor_!' The hat yelled and Harry clapped as loud as he could muster whilst the twins, Lyra and Hermione clapped more calmly.

"Blimey, that was nerve wracking wasn't it!" Ron said as he slumped into the seat next to Harry. It seemed as though out of everyone, the person that had the most certainty of being in the house had, had the worst nerves out of the lot.

The last person, of Blaise Zabini was then called and instantly sorted into the Slytherin house. Once the sorting was over, McGonagall rolled up the parchment which had the list of student names and the sorting hat was then put to the side of the hall. The headmaster, an elderly man that had a long beard which fell to the floor and half moon spectacles stood. He walked over to the podium and greeted all the new students.

"Hey, Lyra?" Lyra turned and noticed Harry was looking at her curiously.

"Yes, Harry?" She asked.

"You never mentioned on the train that you had the same surname as me. Is.. the name common?" He asked anxiously. Lyra shrugged.

"I don't know. But my family have never mentioned you and I being related." Harry looked thoughtful but Lyra wasn't bothered in the slightest. "If we were related, don't you think it would have been mentioned by someone?" Harry furrowed his brow.

"Can you ask your parents perhaps?" Lyra shook her head.

"They both died during the war. I live with my aunt, uncle and cousin." Harry looked flabbergasted, clearly realising how similar their positions were.

"Are they muggles as well?!" Lyra shook her head.

"Pureblooded and proud of it. My cousin is with my brother on the Slytherin table. I'm the only living Gryffindor in my family now." Ron perked up and seemed interested.

"What pure blood family are you related to?" Everyone who were in hearing distance glanced over to her and Lyra felt her face warm.

"The Malfoy family. Draco is my cousin." Ron's mouth almost fell to the table.

"Bloody hell. Good luck at Christmas this year." She awkwardly laughed.

"Yeah, I don't think I'll be in uncle Lucius' good books." Harry gave her an incredulous look.

"You're very different to your cousin. He walked into our compartment before you and Hermione. I met him in Diagon Alley too." Lyra shrugged.

"Honestly, he can be a prat because he looks up to my older brother, Caelum. Throughout my whole life Caelum's acted a bit weird but since he left to go to Hogwarts two years ago he got worse. I think the Slytherin house is a bad influence on him. Draco has always thought that's how Slytherin behave too, because uncle Lucius can be just as bad." She looked thoughtful. "The hat told me I am similar to my father.. I was never really told much about him." Ron gawked.

"A Slytherin and a Gryffindor got together?!" He looked disgusted at the thought. "That's wrong on so many levels! If my brothers Bill or Charlie got a Slytherin girlfriend my parents would have a heart attack!"

"Well I think it's romantic! It's like Romeo and Juliet!" Hermione piped in. Ron looked appalled.

"Gnomeo and Juliet? That sounds stupid." Hermione scowled.

"No, Ron! _Romeo_ and Juliet. It's a tragic love story about two star-crossed lovers, and it was written by Shakespeare. Though, they do say that Shakespeare didn't actually create those-" Ron cut her up.

"Sounds _boring_." He looked up to see Dumbledore was still talking.

"-third floor is now out of bounds to all students along with as always, the Forbidden Forest." The headmasters eyes twinkled in amusement, his eyes directed towards the group and more specifically the twins. "Yes, that includes you both Fred and George." Both the twins looked amused and gave a mock horror to have been pointed out. "And I believe that you all must be on the edge of your seats waiting to dig in to our lavish feat. So I will now just leave you all with a few words. Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak!"

"Seems barking, that one." Ron nodded over to Dumbledore. Harry nodded in agreement.

"Now let the feast, begin." Dumbledore clapped his hands and then all of a sudden the table was filled with so much food that Lyra could barely take it all in. From what was in front of her, there were dishes full of roast potatoes, sautéed leeks with bacon, broccoli, shepherds pie, haggis, pea, sweet corn and everything else you could imagine that would accompany gravy. Lyra had a huge smile on her face and grabbed some slices of roast beef. Finn purred on her lap and gave her a soft meow and Lyra broke a piece off to give to him.

Lyra heard a slight gasp across from her and looked up, Harry was clutching his scar as he was staring at the head table where the the professors were.

"Who's that next to Professor Quirrell? Harry asked no one in particular. An older year with ginger curly hair over heard and looked over to where Harry was staring. Lyra followed their line of sight to recognise said person.

"That's Professor Snape." The ginger replied before Lyra. "He's the head of Slytherin. The lady who walked you all in, McGonagall is ours. Watch out for him though. He has a tendency to always deduct house points from our house. It's all because of the rivalry between our two houses." Fred leaned in.

"Perfect Percy is right. He will find any reason to take points off of our house. He always seems to find a reason for me and George." Lyra raised her brow.

"After seeing Dumbledore point you out and the fact that I met you in a joke shop, it makes me think you both are troublemakers. I can't imagine Severus being that bad." Both the twins gave her a cheeky grin but faltered when they heard the professors first name.

"' _Severus_ '?! You know Professor Snape?!" Lyra nodded.

"My Aunt told me that he was my mum's best friend in school. He'd always pop over when he could. He treated me to my first potions set and I learnt how to make a few basic ones over the past year. I already know how to cure boils." Hermione had overheard their conversation and she squeaked and grabbed her arm. She looked petrified.

"I've read all the books but I haven't done anything _practical_. I'm not failing already, am I?!" Lyra shook her head and patted her shoulder.

"Don't worry Hermione. I haven't read any of the books yet. You'll be fine." Hermione gave her a thankful smile but both the Weasley twins looked horrified.

"Dinner parties with Snape. They must have been _joyous_." George said, his face scrunching up in disgust.

"I think I'd rather have detention with Filch." Fred exclaimed, laughing. Lyra frowned slightly, feeling a tad insulted.

"He's not _that_ bad." Fred shook his head.

"He is. Clearly you don't know Snape _that_ well." Lyra's frown deepened.

"He's my godfather, so i'd like to think I know him _pretty well_. Though I bet he's not impressed I've not gone into Slytherin…" Lyra glanced over at the Slytherin table to see Snape talking to the professor next to him that had a turban around his head Professor Quirrell. Harry spoke up.

"I'm sure he won't be disappointed in you if that's what you're worried about." She smiled thankfully.

"Thank you Harry." He returned her smile and then they had gone back to their half eaten food. It wasn't long until they were getting tucked into their desserts and then the food would disappear from the tables.

As she looked around she saw both Harry and Ron laughing amongst themselves, Lee and the twins were relaying what happened during their summer holidays together and Hermione was chatting to one of the Patel twins that had been sorted in the same house as them.

Out of the corner of her eye, Lyra spotted the headmaster Dumbledore stand and walk back over to his podium.

"Now that our new first years are sorted and our bellies are full. It is now time for bed, it has been a long day for you all. I would like all prefects to take their houses to their common rooms." He had a glowing smile on his face, his eyes winkled behind his half moon spectacles as he looked over at Harry, he gave the boy a knowing smile. Harry hesitantly gave a small smile back. Everyone in the great hall stood and the older boy with the ginger curly hair that had spoke earlier walked to the front of the entrance hall calling for the Gryffindors to follow him, and Lyra had a suspicion she saw his chest puffed up as well to show off his badge.

"Best follow him now Lyra, prefect Percy will give you a lecture otherwise." George said whilst grabbing her arm and intending to lift her up. Lyra had been the last one in her seat. Fred nodded in agreement and walked over to her other side and lifted with his twin. Lyra was easily lifted onto her feet.

"Yeah! Our older brother will definitely find any reason to go into one." She blinked.

"Wow, you both have three older brothers?!" Remembering Ron mention Bill and Charlie. "There's six of you? Blimey.. that is a big family." They both laughed at her, George patted her back.

"And we have a little sister Ginny. She's a year younger than Ron. There's seven of us." Lyra's eyes widened.

"Wow, that's a _big_ family.." The twins shrugged and Fred ruffled her hair on the top of her head.

"If you stick with us, i'm sure at some point you'll meet them all. I'll make sure of it personally if it winds your brother up." He laughed as he looked over at the Slytherin table. "He looks _furious_ that you're here. It's _brilliant_!" She smiled sheepishly.

"You really don't like each other, huh?" George shook his head and leant in to whisper in her ear.

"In first year Caelum started sprouting pure blood supremacy in potions so Fred stuck a filibuster firework in his cauldron. It exploded and Caelum was drenched. His skin was covered in warts and it was pretty disgusting if I'm honest, but it started their hatred towards each other." Lyra burst out laughing.

"I could only imagine what he would have looked like! That's brilliant!" George beamed at her. They soon followed Percy back out of the Great hall and headed up towards the third floor. It didn't particularly take long to get there but by the time they did the students around had started yawning and were ready to retire for the night after their hectic journey to Hogwarts. They approached a portrait of a rather large woman wearing a bright flamingo pink dress and she was holding a wine glass. Percy stood in front of her and turned to the group. He explained that to get into the common room, you would need a password and only students in that house can enter the common room. If you were to lose the password then you would only be allowed access once someone came along and reminded you the password. He turned to the portrait again.

"Caput Draconis" The portrait swung open and they entered the Gryffindor common room. It was the most tasteful decor she had ever seen in a room. The theme was clearly red and gold which were the colours of the house and in every object. The couch, that was facing the grand fireplace was red, with cushions that were gold and emblazoned with the lion sigil. The carpet was a ruby red and the wallpaper was a light mahogany colour with golden patterns etched on. Lyra thought it was gorgeous, she had never been in a room that had been decorated with red, it was such a beautiful colour. She was bored of the plain walls she had back in her room in the Malfoy manor. She had been bored of picking up black goblets to drink from or every book in the bookcase being leather bound and plain. The common room looked homely and she had never felt this strong feeling of being at home before. She felt as though she belonged to be here. This had been her fathers house and it was now hers. It made her feel as though, even though she had never met him, she now had a small connection with her father which she had never had before. He had once been in this room, perhaps even spent his days on that couch or warming up by the fire. Perhaps, it was time to find out a bit about him.

She looked over at the twins that still had their arms locked with hers either side, she turned and gave them both equal grins. They returned it instantly.

"Welcome to your new home!" Both the twins said instantaneously. Her smile widened even more if that were possible. Perhaps another day she'll look into the Potter name, but for now.. she wanted to just enjoy herself here in Hogwarts.


	7. Chapter 6 Potions

_Potions_

"C'mon Lyra, it's time for potions!" Hermione had her hand clasped on Lyra's as she dragged the poor girl down towards the dungeons.

"Calm down Hermione! We have fifteen minutes until class starts!" Panted Lyra as she tried to keep up with her spritely friend. Since they had been sorted into the same house, Hermione and Lyra had stuck to each other like glue. Or more, Hermione had latched onto Lyra. The other first years in the house had found Hermione's frantic, bossy personality rather frustrating but Lyra found it rather interesting. There was no malice to Hermione's words and she was now in a world she had no idea that she had belonged in until recently and she simply wanted to learn everything she could about herself and the new world. Unlike the others, Lyra had found it refreshing and whenever Hermione had questions she had tried to answer as best as she could.

"We need to make sure we know where we are going though! And I _really_ want to make sure we have front seats! I'm sure your godfather Snape will be glad to see you too!" Lyra sighed. In all honesty, she had been apprehensive about going to Potions class. It would be the first class she would have with the Slytherin house and after breakfast that morning she had realised just how bad her family had taken to her being in the Gryffindor house. The family owl Artemis had flown in and dropped two letters off to both Draco and Caelum. They had both glanced her way in sync before opening up their letters and then talked amongst themselves. Hermione had tried to cheer her up and mentioned that perhaps it had been her aunt's letter telling them both to accept her being in a different house but she knew better. She knew her family. Those letters had been written by her uncle Lucius, and he had probably told them both to keep an eye on her incase there was a whisper of her being a sympathiser or another fan of Dumbledore and he would collect her on the spot. Lyra was rather surprised she hadn't received a letter from him or her Aunt yet announcing they would be pulling her out of school for shaming the family, or perhaps they were already in discussions with Dumbledore to transfer her over to Durmstrang in Bulgaria.

"Ah! This must be the classroom Lyra!" Hermione had announced, proud that she had found the classroom with little to no difficulty. She opened the door to find the room was empty. The room was colder than upstairs and the damp; dark room had the simmering cauldrons heard bubbling away in the background. Hermione's hand still held Lyra's as they walked into the classroom. Lyra was in awe. This was a typical setting she could have imagined her godfather to spend a large amount of time in willingly.

"Do we really have to sit at the front? Severus will definitely pick on someone in these seats." Lyra asked. Hermione turned and gave her a bashful smile.

"Well after you and the others were talking about how difficult he can be, I went through my books last night to revise. I wanted to make sure I knew as much as I could before we start. With us working together I'm sure we can solve the answers!" Lyra sighed defeatedly and sat down next to the bushy haired brunette.

It wasn't long after Hermione and Lyra sat down did the class begin to fill. It was another five minutes until Lyra had seen Draco walk into the class with his best friends Crabbe and Goyle. Draco had spotted her almost as soon as he entered the classroom and his gaze stayed transfixed on her until he sat down at the opposite end of the room, also sitting in the front row. Hermione nudged her and leant over, whispering in her ear.

"Look! If Draco was _that_ upset with you being in a different house, wouldn't he ignore you completely?" Lyra broke her eye contact with Draco, mentally shivering from his cold stare to Hermione's beaming smile. She was trying to encourage her.

"Hermione… he's making a point. He wants nothing to do with me." Hermione placed a hand on hers and gave her a reassuring smile.

"I'm sure we can fix this. We'll sort it out together."

The doors opened and both Harry and Ron walked into the class, they quickly took their seats in the remaining ones at the front. Harry sat next to Lyra and Ron sat on his other side.

"Got here just in time Harry." He gave her a weak smile, and Laura could tell he was slightly out of breath from running to the classroom, they must have lost track of time.

The doors opened and Snape walked into the room, he took his long strides to the front of the class. Everyone in the room went deadly silent as Snape picked up his scroll and stood, facing the students. Snape started the class by taking the register and paused at Harry's name.

"Ah, why yes." He said softly, his eyes rose from the parchment and stared at the boy. Lyra noticed he hadn't given her any notice as of yet. "Our new _celebrity_." Draco and his two friends Crabbe and Goyle sniggered amongst themselves. Harry frowned slightly and his ears went a faint pink. He clearly didn't like the attention that he was currently being given. Snape, went back to his register, seemingly content with how awkward he had made Harry feel. He called out Lyra's name, and his eyes rose whilst he gave her a hard stare as she answered his name call. There was a moment of silence and then he diverted his eyes back, Lyra released the breath she hadn't realised she had been holding. He then went on to complete calling out the attendance. Once everyone had answered to his or her name, Snape lowered the register and fully acknowledged the class that stood before him.

"You are here to learn the subtle science and art that is of potion making." Snape started, as he rolled up his parchment and placed it on his desk. He turned back to the class and took a step forward.

"I can teach you to how to bottle fame, brew glory and even stopper death - _if_ you aren't as big a bunch of dunderheads as I usually have to teach." Lyra noticed Hermione was enthralled with what he had to say. Her eyes were wide and she was on the edge of her seat, taking in everything like a sponge in water.

"Potter!" Lyra's blood went cold and her face shot round to look back at him, she couldn't believe he was ousting her already in the class. She noticed in the corner of her eye that Harry tensed as well and she then realised Snape's eyes were focused on _him_ rather than her. She mentally sighed in relief.

"What would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?" Lyra blinked. She couldn't believe that he was testing the class already. It was their first lesson and she could only imagine that barely anyone would even know what on earth he was talking about.

"I don't know sir." Harry said uncomfortably. She pitied him for being in that position. Lyra noticed Hermione's hand shot up in the air and Lyra mentally groaned. Hermione thought this would be the perfect time to test her revision. Snape ignored Hermione's hand and sneered at Harry.

"Clearly, fame isn't everything. Let's try again. Where would you look if I asked you to find me a bezoar?" Hermione tried to stretch her hand even higher and Harry looked even more uncomfortable. He visibly shifted in his seat. Lyra noticed that Draco was visibly shaking with laughter and she frowned deeper.

"I don't know sir." Harry said honestly yet again.

"Didn't think to open a book before you arrived, Potter? Thought you were too good for this class? Let me try again. What is the difference between monkswood and wolfsbane?"

Hermione jumped out of her seat and stood with her hand stretched out as high as she could muster, desperately trying to get Snape to look over her way so she could _finally_ answer at least _one_ of the questions Snape had given Harry. Lyra couldn't help but sink into her seat, she felt uncomfortable with both people she sat next to.

"I don't know," said Harry truthfully yet again "but I think Hermione knows." Snape gave him a dark look and turned to the said girl.

"Sit _down."_ The demand in his voice made Hermione quickly sit back on her stool. She looked equally as embarrassed as Harry.

"Potter." His tone was less aggressive and his tone was lower however the tone of voice still lingered. Lyra looked back over at Harry to notice both he and Ron were watching her anxiously. She blinked and looked up at Snape to see that he had finally noticed her yet again. His dark eyes stared into hers. "Answer those three questions." She sighed.

"Asphodel and wormwood make a sleeping potion called the Draught of the living death. A bezoar is a stone that will save you from most potions and is found in the stomach of a goat. Monkswood and wolfsbane is from the same plant called aconite. That last question was a ruse." Lyra had answered his questions with no hesitation in her voice and both Harry and Ron looked at her in awe. Hermione however, looked put out. Snape's eyes lingered on Lyra before he broke contact and looked up to the class.

"Why aren't you all writing this down?" The class made a small gasp and the sound of quills scratching on the parchment filled the room. "5 points to Gryffindor." The scratching stopped suddenly and Lyra could feel everyone's eyes on her. Her eyes were wide as she stared at her godfather in shock. She hadn't expected that, and neither did anyone else in the class.

X

The potions class didn't seem to improve for Harry. Snape had decided for their first lesson, they were to learn a simple potion to cure boils, which Lyra could have done blindfolded after her sessions with her godfather before Hogwarts had started. A boy in their house, Neville, had managed to melt Seamus' cauldron and the potion was spilled on the floor, burning holes into people's shoes when in contact. Neville had gotten drenched in the potion and was covered from head to toe in boils and Snape had blamed Harry (who was standing next to the pair) for not correcting Neville's mistake in the order he used his ingredients. Lyra's five points to Gryffindor were taken away and it left Harry feeling utterly miserable once they had walked out of the classroom.

"Oh cheer up." Ron said, walking by Harry's side. "Snape's always taking points off of Fred and George." Lyra patted Harry's back.

"Don't worry Harry. My godfather hates almost everyone. It'd be worrying if he _liked_ you." Ron rolled his eyes.

"Speak for yourself, he gave _you_ points." Lyra shrugged at Ron.

"Only because it would probably look weird if he _didn't_ give me points after answering correctly." Ron shrugged and then he turned to Harry.

"Say, Harry. Can I come with you to meet Hagrid?" Harry nodded and gave him a weak smile.

"Yeah, sure. Hagrid would be happy to meet you. Lyra? Hermione? Do you both want to come too?" Hermione looked to her side at Lyra and looked hesitant. She waited for her response.

"It's okay Harry, I'd like to head back to the common room before lunch and write up a couple of notes from potions." Hermione beamed and wrapped her arm around Lyra's. She looked ecstatic at the idea of revising their study and both Harry and Ron gave them a look of disbelief.

"We've been out of our first class and you're studying _already?!"_ Lyra shrugged and gave Hermione a small smile. She knew how much her new friend would _love_ to go over the class they had just had. There was an understanding that because it was Hermione's first time in the magical world, she found everything to fascinating and it made Lyra want to learn more about _why_ it was that interesting. She wondered just how _boring_ the muggle world was. Both her and Hermione said their goodbyes whilst the boys headed to Hagrid's hut.

X

"What will you say to your aunt about joining Gryffindor?" Hermione asked as they climbed into the entrance after saying the password to the Fat Lady. They shrugged their bags off of their shoulders and placed them on the table closest to the fireplace. They pulled out a couple of chairs and sat down.

"I don't know." Lyra shrugged, she opened up her bag and pulled out her parchment and her quill. "I've got to send them a message soon though. I can't imagine them disowning me but I want to at least know they don't hate me." Hermione looked thoughtful as she pulled out her parchment that already was half full of her notes from class.

"I'm sure they wouldn't _hate_ you. If your father was in this house then surely a part of them would think you had a chance of being in it?" Lyra furrowed her brow.

"I don't know Hermione. I don't think they particularly liked my father. That's the impression I have from them. Aunt Cissy never liked to speak of him and I had no chance with Uncle Lucius. All I know was that he died in the war and he was the reason why my mother died as well." Hermione contemplated on what to ask next.

"Why was he the reason your mum died?" The hesitation in asking that question was apparent in Hermione's voice. Lyra looked solemn.

"Well it all happened in the war. Maybe he dragged us all into it. I don't know. I can only guess that he was stupidly brave and jumped into the fray and my mum got caught in the crossfire as well. My aunt and uncle never gave me the answer."

"Well I think," started Hermione. "That we need to learn more about what kind of person your dad was. Maybe _then_ you'll feel a little happier being separated from Malfoy? If we could learn _about_ your father, we would then know his positive attributes and we can get to learn about who your parents were. I'm sure Harry would want to get involved too, and we can research for him as well."

"I don't know. What if I don't like the answers?" Lyra asked.

"Worth a try!" Hermione gave her a grin. "Surely you want to know more about your parents as well, right? And you _did_ say Snape was your mum's best friend! Why not ask _him?"_

Suddenly arms arms were wrapped around Lyra either side and she jumped. She felt two faces pressed against both her cheeks.

"Ask who, what?" Both the newcomers asked in sync, and Lyra then realised that they were her favourite Weasleys. Hermione gave Fred and George a look.

"Snape." She answered, she then went on to explain their current conversation to them. Which ended up with both twins having an identical look of horror on their face.

"She got us points from _Snape?!"_ Cried George. "Blimey, who would have thought?! I guess having a Slytherin raised Gryffindor comes in handy. "

"I wonder, if you joined in with our mischief Lyra, would Snape ignore us?" Fred asked with a grin on his face. "Or better yet, you get involved and he _can't_ bring himself to take points off?" Lyra looked at them both questionably.

"Are you mental? If Severus found out I got involved, not only would I have detention for the rest of the school year.. my aunt and uncle would _kill_ me!" The twins shrugged, and Hermione gave them an irritated look.

"We don't want Lyra in _more_ trouble. Plus the points Lyra won us were quickly taken away from Harry, so we didn't gain anything from it". Lyra stood up from her seat before the twins responded, the arms that were wrapped around her fell.

"Thanks Hermione." She started. "I'll speak to Severus at some point about it and see what can come out of it. It'd be nice to find out why I am in this house as well." Hermione smiled up at Lyra and stood up from her seat, she walked to her side and gave her a hug.

"I know we've only known each other for a day. But you're my friend, you don't need to thank me." Lyra returned her smile to Hermione. "Now, can we _please_ go over what we've just learnt?" Lyra nodded and went into her bag.

"Sure! Let me grab my textbook out of my…" There was a pause. "Hermione, have you seen my textbook?" Hermione shook her head and pulled out her own book from her bag.

"You had it in Potions." There was another pause and then Lyra let out a groan, realising that she must have left it back in the classroom. She'd have to go get it back before the next class turned up, otherwise there was a chance she could lose it.

"I must have left it back in the dungeons. I'm going to head back there now to get it out of the way. Lunch is about to start soon anyway so shall I meet you there Hermione?" Hermione shook her head, deciding to stay upstairs and start her revision early like planned.

"I'm going to stay here for a bit. But I can meet you down there in half an hour?" Lyra gave her a smile and nodded. That gave her plenty of time to collect her book and find them both a seat in the great hall. She turned to both the twins.

"Will you both be coming to lunch?" George shook his head whilst Fred had a devilish grin on his face. Not sure whether Lyra wanted to know or not, she stood up from her seat.

"Well I dread to think what you both will be up to, but I'll see you both later on." Fred laughed and placed his hand on the top of her head. Ruffling her hair.

"You haven't witnessed any of our fine work yet. Don't worry Ms Potter, you'll be able to see it first hand soon." Lyra raised a brow. Already having a victim in mind.

"I don't suppose the first victim this year will be my brother, will it?" Both the twins looked at each other and laughed between themselves. George tapped his nose, indicating it was a secret.

"In due time."

X

After bidding her goodbyes to both the twins and Hermione, Lyra headed back down to the dungeons to find her textbook. She turned a corner and had almost reached the classroom when she heard familiar voices.

"Our priority right now is that _scum_ Potter." It was her brother, Caelum's voice and his tone of voice was in contempt. Lyra paused and looked round another corner, she noticed her brother leaning against the wall with Warrington and Montague. They were standing in an empty corridor that lead to a dead end. She doubled back and leant against the wall to listen in. It was rare for her to hear that tone of voice from him, unless he was referring to the Weasley twins.

Caelum leant against the wall with his arms crossed. He wore his Slytherin robes immaculately and his bag was tidily placed on the floor by his side. Both Warrington and Montague were leaning on the wall opposite to her brother and giving him their full-undivided attention. Like Draco, her brother had his lackeys as well.

"You mean, scarface?" Montague asked questioningly. He held a confused look on his face, clearly trying to quickly grasp the conversation her brother had instigated.

" _Of course,_ I mean him. Lyra can wait. She'll get what's coming for joining _that_ house. I'm fed up with how the school is idolising a kid that was brought up by muggles and knows no magic whatsoever. He knows _nothing_ about his heritage and Draco told me about how much of a fool he made himself in their first class as well. He doesn't _belong_ here. He has no right to share the same name as me." Lyra frowned as she rested her back against the cool wall and listened to what her brother was telling his best friends. She had never heard such resentment in his voice before. She couldn't understand as to why he disliked Harry.

"How would we get rid of him though?" Warrington questioned her brother, she heard the slight apprehension in his voice.

"It's simple, we get him expelled. I've already spoken to my cousin and he's on board with helping out. I presume he is angry about my sister's betrayal. Either way, he'll get involved." Both Warrington and Montague exchanged looks. It was Montague that answered first.

"I doubt the teachers would expel Potter. He's only just started and everyone already loves him." Lyra could just imagine her brother rolling his eyes at that response. She heard him use his foot to stomp the wall he was leaning against.

"And thats why we need to get rid of him. He thinks he's better than us, and this is the person that had apparently defeated The Dark Lord?! I don't believe it. Either way, he's leaving this school. I've already spoken to Draco about the plan. You remember the curses I taught you, right?" Lyra frowned and looked back over the corner to see Montague and Warrington nod with their hands outstretched with their wands, they imitated the motions of the spell they intended to use. Warrington was the next to speak.

"How do you know this curse again, Caelum?" Caelum smiled cruelly whilst admiring his own wand, he glanced back up to his two friends.

"Well, whilst I was waiting for you two _idiots_ in The White Wyvern when my sister and cousin were out shopping in Diagon Alley, I met a family friend called Avery. He was already in the pub and I asked him to show me a couple of spells." His cruel smile widened. "I've been itching to try them out for a couple of weeks now. If _only_ I had known my dear sister was going to be in Gryffindor". Lyra put her hard to her mouth to stop herself from uttering a small cry. Avery was a cruel man that visited their home a few times a year, and if Lyra could help it, she would avoid him by staying in her room. He had been known to hit Dobby relentlessly and she remembered him using the cruciatus curse on Dotty one day because she had spilt his tea. She could feel her eyes begin to water. She couldn't believe her brother would even go so far as to curse someone let alone curses that were recommended from _him._ She _had_ to tell Harry. She _couldn't_ let her brother harm anyone. Would the teachers even believe her if she told them his plans? If this would be the first time he's doing this, if they were anything like her uncle Lucius they would never believe her.

"And once we've got ridden of Potter, _then_ we'll go after my sister. She's already brought shame within the family and she's only been here for twenty four hours." Montague looked thoughtful.

"So do you plan to get your sister expelled as well? What are we doing with her?" Caelum laughed, he may have only been thirteen but already he was looking to be a dangerous person to oppose.

"We'll come for her _after_ Potter, but because she's my sister, we'll take extra care in making her suffer as well, along with those blood traitor _Weasleys._ " Lyra felt her blood run cold. The book at the back of her mind, she turned and made a full pelt run back to her Gryffindor common room; ignoring the surprised calls of her brother and his friends demanding to know who had heard them.

Running back up the stairs towards the seventh floor, she ignored the calls from a surprised Harry and Ron from the Entrance hall. She just wanted to get back to her comfort zone, no longer hungry and no longer interested in being in the public eye. Lyra felt arms wrap around her as she tried to get her breath back once reaching the portrait of the Fat Lady.

"Hey, hey calm down Lyra! What's wrong?" She recognized it to be Fred's voice. It hadn't taken her that long to register whose voice was who's between both twins. Fred had a more louder, boyish tone, whilst his brother, George had a more calming tone of voice. Lyra would have liked to say George's voice sounded more mature of the two.

"It's my brother, Fred. I don't know what he's going to do but he's going to try and cause some trouble. He's targeting Harry, you, your brothers and me! He's going to try and curse us and get Harry expelled!" Fred blinked and his face frowned, taking note on how spooked Lyra was. It had become a habit for him to ruffle her hair as a sign of affection and as he done so again for the second time in the day, he kept an arm around her.

"Don't worry about that. I mean, your brother can _try_ to get Harry in trouble but chances are nothing will happen. We'll keep an eye out though. Don't worry about something that hasn't happened yet." Lyra pulled away and looked up at Fred. He gave her a comforting smile. He continued. "Look, if you're that concerned, both me and George will keep an ear out. If I hear any funny business you'll be the first to know. But he's not going to touch any of us. I promise you."


End file.
